constant deep cough for weeks chest xray clear?

[rubyroo]

hi i've had a constant deep cough and wheeze for 4 weeks. i cough til i'm sick (sorry for tmi) dr sent me for a chest x-ray which came back clear. i've just finished 7 days antibiotics but am still coughing. any exertion sends me on a coughing fit. my chest feels very weak and my breathing is painful. when i breathe in i wheeze. i've done steam inhalation every day for about a week but not making any difference. i have a ventolin inhaler to help me breathe although i'm not asthmatic. i don't smoke and am generally quite fit. i don't have a temperature but everyday life feels beyond me at the moment i feel exhausted.i know this isn't so serious but it's really getting me down. my pelvic floor is shot from the constant coughing and i'm having to wear a pad any advice on what to do next gratefully recieved.

bump

bumpity bump

how horrible rubyroo. i have had a foul cough for three weeks but am getting better. i am particularly hating the current dry cough stage, although nothing is worth than waking to cough in the night, how are you sleeping?

what does the doctor suggest? are you drinking enough?

Hi

A clear chest x-ray means there's no infection there, it sounds like you have bronchitis to me www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Bronchitis/Pages/Symptoms.aspx Your GP will have given you an inhaler to help to open up your airway in order to relieve your symptoms, not because he thinks you have asthma. You need to take it easy, don't exercise until you are feeling better and please do go back to your GP if you still feel unwell by the end of the week or feel any worse

thanks belle and fishie, just so fed up of feeling like this work is a nightmare and my dh pretty fed up with me dragging myself around still. i find it hard to breathe outside the air is so cold. i aven't taken my dc's out for weeks! i'm drinking a lot of herbal tea dr not really got any positive ideas just "theres no time limit on this"

There's no time limit, he's right, it's when your body's ready. Tell your husband to be more understanding!!

Rest as much as you can, is it a blue (ventolin) inhaler that you have?? It is a good idea to have a couple of puffs before you go out, I have this problem with ds (he's asthmatic), he's really wheezy if it's cold outside and I have to take him out, he has 2 puffs of his inhaler and I wrap a scarf lightly around his mouth to warm the air up which really helps.

hi belle, its a blue one, it is helping. i think i just needed to vent some frustration on here because everyone in RL is a bit sick of hearing that i'm still ill!! DH has been great but i feel guilty that he has had to cope another weekend on his own with the kids and that i'm about to start another week at work unable to function properly! thank you for posting.

right i am going to go to bed cause maybe it'll be better tommorrow!

Make sure your gp checks your blood pressure. Dp was admitted to hospital with heart failure last week and we thought it was pneumonia.
Hope you feel better soon

I'm sorry to hear that Earthstar, my mum has it aswell. Medication can work wonders though.

Heart failure normally shows up on a chest x-ray, the heart will be enlarged and there will be fluid on the lungs, if your chest x-ray was clear ruby then it's more then likely not this. It really does sound like bronchitis. Take it easy

ta belle, sorry bout your dp earthstar. its got me down cause i had bronchitus back in september for months and then in jan/feb i started again with it. my dh has MS and is aving to do loads of stuff for me which is a bit pathetic of me isn't it?! anyway i am going to multivitamin myself up sleep as much as i can and wait!

Hi Rubyroo
Know just how you feel. I had a chest infection from July last year. 6 lots of ABs didn't do anything. 2 x chest x rays were clear, as was a CT scan I ended up having. Still left with bit of a cough and catarrh/ phlegm. Feel really well in myself now though, as have been getting lots of sleep/water/healthy food/high dose
multivits/echinacea/daily walks etc Hope you feel better soon.

I'm new to this site. Are you pregnant? If not, read on... and forgive any missppellinngss.

I am experiencing the SAME THING!! I went to the ER after throwing up from the coughing (I threw up phlem). The doc said it was bronchial spasms (clear chest x-ray, don't smoke, etc) and put me on Vicadin!!!!!!

He said a couple of nights of Vicadin(it's worse for me at night) and the spasms should work themselves out. Last night was my first night, and it worked GRRRRRRREAT!! No tickle, no trying to supress, no coughing till tears stream like fountains down my cheeks! I hope it will have gone away when I stop taking the Vicadin, though!

I would hope you are better by now, too! I for one want to stop sleeping on the couch and sleep in bed again! And my daughter is getting tired of me being "sick"! I'd love to clean the house, too!

Hi I realise this is an old thread but could I ask if you got to the bottom of yr cough? I'm having the same problems now. Clear x ray but cough until I throw up. I've recently given up smoking but only smoked for 18mths. I realive that it's probably been triggered by the smoking but the doctor is still trying to get to the bottom of why I'm still coughing like this. Any info 3ould be much appreciated x

Hello. I developed adult onset asthma about 7/8 years ago. Started from a chest infection. No family history at all. Hope you feel better soon but feel free to ask anything if it seems to be asthma type thing.

Cough!!!! I'm fed up doing it and cold air seems to be 1 trigger but it goes on and on indoors also. Have it approx 8 months now had Xray.. Peak Flow Test.. GP Breathing Test..and hospital Pulmonary Test and ALL clear with goid readings. But still i cough. It triggers sneezing after a bout and have come close to throwing up. Doc gave me the blue inhaler it seem to help at first but now no. It did go on at nights i bought Stop cough med which helped that but didnt make coughing go away perm. When i laugh i go into a kink of coughing i just want it to disappear. I did have a cough years ago which lasted over a year then stopped so maybe its a repeat of it..dunno.

hi, i have had this chronic cough for about 6 months and it’s killing me. i have gone to the doctor way too many times , getting steroids, inhalers, a nebulizer, antibiotics, allergy medication, and nothing has stopped it. he sent me for an x ray and it came back clear so they are clueless. i have a pulmonologist appointment coming up but does anyone on here have advice or a similar situation?? it’s making school and sleeping very difficult for me.

yes the laughing part !! it’s the worst when i break into a coughing fit while i try to laugh

Hi, I’ve just joined mumsnet as I have consistently suffered the 6/8 week cough and associating symptoms described in the original post for 4 years. It gets diagnosed as bronchitis every year and I end up taking several courses of antibiotics with zero improvement. Last year and this year I have refused the antibiotics but have taken the flu jab. The flu jab has resulted in me not getting colds/ flu but I still get the cough for weeks. I moved home this year and my new GP has told me that it’s sinus related which I was not convinced by however I have looked into this and found this interesting article by harvard www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/that-nagging-cough
I have now started on the beconase nasal spray and will try syringe my nose with saline solution. I will let you know if it works. Hope this helps someone!